author
Pieter Langendijk
1683–1756
Best remembered for lively comedies and sharp social satire, this 18th-century Dutch writer brought everyday greed, vanity, and ambition onto the stage. His work helped make him one of the most recognizable literary voices of his time in the Netherlands.
1 Audiobook
Drie blyspelen
by Pieter Langendijk
About the author
Born in Haarlem in 1683, Pieter Langendijk became known as a Dutch playwright and poet, and is also described in reference sources as a damask weaver and city artist. After losing his father young, he grew up under modest circumstances, and that closeness to ordinary working life seems to have fed the practical, worldly tone of his writing.
Langendijk is chiefly remembered for comic plays and verse that used wit and satire to expose social foolishness and moral weakness. His reputation rests on the way he captured the manners of his age with energy and humor, making him a standout figure in 18th-century Dutch literature.
He died in Haarlem in 1756. Though not widely known outside Dutch literary history today, he remains an important name for readers interested in the theater, poetry, and social comedy of the Dutch Republic.